10 Times Vince McMahon Had Nothing To Do With WWE's Massive Success

5. The OVW Class Of 2002

John Cena Randy Orton WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ascension Ceremony
WWE

Genius, magpie - there is a further word we tend to associate with VKM, and that is insane.

He'd already decimated the old territory system years before he ran WCW out of business (which he also didn't - more on that imminently). With the talent pool badly depleted, the man who defines himself not as a wrestler promoter but a multi-faceted businessman was woefully unfamiliar with the crucial business concept of succession planning. It was left to the devices of Jim Cornette, with one eye on removing himself from the orbit of Vince Russo and Kevin Dunn, to nurture in Ohio Valley Wrestling the next generation of WWE talent. Cornette's prescience was mathematical - "in five year's time, we're really gonna need [developmental]," is how he put it. Five years later, OVW grads John Cena and Batista headlined WrestleMania 21, as the recruitment nous of Jim Ross and Corny's talent-honing instincts converged to secure the future of a company that treated Cornette's self-devised division as an afterthought, low budget, office scorn and all.

The talent pool wasn't completely depleted, but Vince refused to scout seriously Japan, Mexico, or the Independent circuit. Which begs the question: where did Vince expect his new stars to come from?

Cheap plug: this crazy sequence of events is covered comprehensively in my book Development Hell: The NXT Story, available for purchase on shop.whatculture.com.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!